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Posts Tagged ‘self confidence’

Hypnosis, EFT and EMDR can help relieve PTSD

The problem for clients wishing to relieve (without reliving!) and let go of past trauma in therapy is that it can feel very uncomfortable to speak about something that has left a deep and uncomfortable impression on one’s life. Also the thought of unburdening deep and painful experiences to a stranger can mean that one to one therapy may be impossible to even contemplate.

However using a mix of Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique and Eye Movement Desensitisation and Reprocessing I have put together a way of letting the unconscious mind do the work of putting space between oneself and the past without even having to consciously think or talk about it.

This may seem a little strange. However, how long would it take us to cover every aspect and every one of our past traumas in talking therapy? And how would we know if we have covered them all? And what about the ones we don’t remember plus the ones passed on genetically from our parents and their parents?

As a hypnotherapist if people wish to talk about past experiences that is fine but not everybody does. In fact I regularly work with clients who would prefer not to talk through the past and it is amazing the changes that can occur as their unconscious quietly goes about the task of reprocessing this information and releasing it with virtually no emotional involvement. In fact it is not unusual for me to know very little, if anything about the personal depth of the issues we are working on.

Therapy is always moving forward and just as the days of the hypnotist’s swinging watch and chain are gone so there are new and extremely effective ways of dealing with many, many issues.

For more information about this or any other issues just call or email and I will be happy to help.

Panic Attacks can be one of the most frightening experiences one can have and can appear, as it were, out of nowhere. To suddenly become aware of your heart beating faster, a loss of control and feeling disconnected from your surroundings is a very uncomfortable experience. Plus, once we have had one panic attack our body and brain remembers it and this can set up a loop whereby the brain stem continues to be alert and on the lookout for anything that might trigger a panic attack again. Unfortunately that only compounds the problem and we can become more liable to having them on a regular basis.

This experience is a message from our primal brain saying it does not, for whatever reason feel safe. Once the primal brain is activated like this it is very hard to switch off because it is in effect four times stronger than our frontal “thinking” cortex at getting it’s message across to the body.

Basically the frontal cortex, which can think logically for us, resides in the front of the skull and the primal primitive brain at the back of the skull. So once a panic attack begins generally no amount of logical thinking will turn it off and we just have to go through the experience until the body runs out of adrenaline and we can begin to calm down.

However there is a lot we can do ourselves to bring those feelings into check and manage them until they become fewer and fewer in our lives. Using hypnosis is a perfect tool to help calm the nervous system and regain control of the uncomfortable physical and emotional feelings. Also there are breathing strategies available that will help us to breath in a way that relaxes rather then excites the nervous system. Also subtle trance based ways of thinking can help us turn this around.

The beauty of using trance based techniques such as hypnotherapy is that not only does it make it easier to slip into a comfortable state of relaxation but also the trance state helps us bypass the conscious mind and generate change on a deeper unconscious level.

If you would like to know more about hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique, NLP and other ways of engaging your creative mind for relaxation and change do feel free to contact me and I will be very happy to help.

A recent article in the i Newspaper (3rd November 2016) by Eve Simmons highlights a real lack of information regarding men with eating disorders.

Eating disorders

Statistics appear skewed probably partly by the male psyche and society’s unconscious restrictions on men “owning up” to having any sort of mental health issues. So understandably a lot of eating disorder information is aimed at women but as Eve Simmons article points out “men get eating disorders too.”

And get the best results when working with your hypnotherapist

If you haven’t experienced hypnotherapy before it can be a little daunting wondering what will happen and how you will feel when in hypnosis. Most of us have seen stage shows and hypnotists on television so understandably one may feel a little wary. However hypnosis could be one of the most relaxing experiences you have had but unfortunately the thoughts of “will I cluck like a chicken or tell all my darkest secrets” can make us somewhat guarded at that first appointment.

Now, a professional hypnotherapist would not make any of their clients cluck like a chicken and you certainly will not be telling anybody anything that you would rather keep to yourself.

However these worries can set up an unconscious resistance before we even cross the threshold so it is best to be aware of these thoughts to help allow yourself to participate as comfortably as you like in the session.

First, remember that the therapist is there to help you and has your best interests at heart. One of the strengths that Milton Erickson, the founder of modern hypnosis had, along with his remarkable skills was his ability to unconsciously convey to his clients how much he cared that they achieve the very best results.

Consciously knowing this means that there will be no need to “do battle” with the hypnotherapist. Just think how much more relaxed will you feel and how much easier it will be when both of you are working together. Those who arrive with arms folded and a “well fix me then” look on their face will take up valuable time in their session when they could be making valuable changes instead.

One reason for this resistance is that our logical thinking mind may not want us to do this work since our logical mind may not want to hand over control to the creative mind. (Yes you can relax, it will still be your mind not the hypnotherapists’!) What the logical mind can find hard to grasp at times is that accessing the power of our creative mind will help free our logical mind thereby encouraging the whole brain to work more harmoniously. The vast majority of clients are very easy to work with and if there is any discomfort then as professionals it is our job to help put the client at ease so they will leave the session happier and more relaxed than when they came so helping them achieve their best results.

So all you have to do is bring along the belief that you will be exploring wonderful and powerful ways to help let go of the issues you will be working on plus three experiences that will help you get the best possible results –

Vision is a whole body and mind issue

Reading one of Katy Bowman’s Nutritious Movement blogs she said “Vision is a whole body issue” and I would entirely agree with her. (In fact if you haven’t read any of her books I would encourage you to do so. Alignment Matters is where I started and I think I have bought one for pretty much everyone in my family now!)

And now I am adding to her sentence “and a mind issue”.

For a while I have been using the eyes and eye movements as part of my modalities for change in coaching and therapy sessions. I have some training in EMDR (Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) which specifically uses certain eye movements to help release and reprocess traumatic memories and emotions that are locked in the brain. It can be especially valuable in helping clients suffering from PTSD.

However I also have various other strategies I use that I find very simple that help take the sting out of residual painful emotions. These strategies have been developed through my interest in how we use our eyes and our ability to see and the links to the body’s nervous system.

I wonder how many of us have thought much about the many connections to the body and mind that are continually happening beyond your everyday awareness? Once we can harness simple understandings and make conscious and unconscious adjustments in this area it can make a noticeable positive difference to awareness and experience of the world on a daily basis.

The beauty of this, is that it is something we can become aware of and make a difference to virtually all day without even trying. After all we will spend all day (hopefully) with our eyes open so a simple change of awareness in how we and where we look is going to take virtually no extra time at all however busy we are.

It is interesting how the eyes and our looking pop up into everyday conversation all the time. Take these phrases

“Things are looking up”

“He can’t see the wood for the trees”

“Chin up”

“It’s not looking good”

“I can’t seem to focus on the issue”

You “Get the picture.” Feel free to add a few of your own.

They are all unconscious references to what we are seeing. “How are things today?” “Things are looking up” We may see it as a pleasant enough reply to the question but where we do we look when things are not going well? We look Down.

So there is a continuous loop of unconscious positive or negative information just being generated from where and how we are looking and using our eyes. It is a fact that relaxing and widening our peripheral vision will immediately help engage the parasympathetic nervous system, the part that helps us relax and ideally balances with the sympathetic nervous system which engages our body into stimulus responses.

So “What are we all looking for?” We may be looking for a good time, some relief, some relaxation, some pleasure or just some peace and quiet. Perhaps we need to look no farther than in front of our own nose?

Dealing with workplace bullying

The dictionary definition of a bully is “A person who uses strength or influence to harm or intimidate those who are weaker”

Any sort of bullying is pretty despicable and there has recently been a lot of media talk about bullying in the workplace.

First of all it is important that anyone who thinks they may be being bullied carefully organises their strategies by logging incidents, getting help from their union and keeping as best one can everything on a professional level.

Bullying at work can include sexual harassment, spreading rumours, undermining someone’s work and can be perpetrated face to face, by email, letter or phone. This constant undermining of someone’s personality and competence is likely to have a severely detrimental effect on the victim’s self esteem and ability to carry out their work efficiently.

However bullies are generally pretty weak and cowardly individuals and will soon back off when they are shown that we are not prepared to put up with this type of intimidation.

So how does one turn this around and wipe that seemingly indelible word “victim” from our forehead that seems to unconsciously attract this unpleasant sort of person?

One way of looking at it is that the bully is acting from their child self and therefore it is easy for them to spot someone else who may also be acting from their child self. So the bully is behaving as if they were perhaps 14 years old and they have spotted a victim who is unconsciously coming from perhaps their 8 year old self.

Now we all can unconsciously at times interact from our younger selves and someone who lacks confidence may really feel stuck in that past time frame without even being aware of it. Unfortunately bullies have an innate ability to spot this, also without consciously knowing it so will home in on their prey knowing that they are unlikely to get any trouble back from someone who is lacking in confidence.

So the point here is the importance of not only taking your issue through the appropriate channels but also to find techniques and strategies that build up confidence and self esteem in a healthy and empowering manner. We all have our younger parts of us that have helped us develop into the person we have become but your 8 year old doesn’t want to be dealing with awkward people with misplaced egos in the office. Our 8 year old just wants to play. It is our full grown up self that has the knowledge, wisdom and understanding to handle the sort of situations grown ups handle.

So learning and developing strategies that will help us feel comfortable and empowered in our full grown up self will help us deal with these situations in a much more grown up and effective way. Once the bully unconsciously recognises there is a change of dynamics and energy nine times out of ten they will soon back away. The most important thing is that you will become your full authentic self and confidently take on that knowledge, wisdom and experience that is yours. I have seen a complete change in body language and energy within just ten minutes when a client literally steps into that full self that is theirs to take with them.

If you have been suffering from any sort of bullying and would like to discuss any of the points in this post just call or email me and I will be happy to help.

Are you afraid of your past?

We all have a past and we all have “baggage” from our past but are those past experiences holding you back from connecting with the person inside that is “trying to get out”?

Many people do a wonderful job of getting on with their lives even though they may have experienced trauma or abuse in childhood or later. And many are getting on with their lives but unfortunately still stuck with feelings of guilt, shame, anger and fear.

I never cease to be amazed at the resilience of the human psyche, however if one can begin to heal these past scars and reclaim the real, authentic and confident self that you know could be “you” what difference would that make to your life now and in the future?

The problem here is that these experiences can be “tucked” safely away in our unconscious and the thought of going to therapy and bringing everything back into the conscious mind may seem too much to even contemplate. And I really do understand that.

Many survivors of an abusive past will go for counselling or psychotherapy to talk through these past issues and this can help bring resolution, but what if the thought of going over and over and sharing all the uncomfortable details of your past with someone you don’t know feels far too intimidating and frightening?

Well there are other options, and therapies using Self Hypnosis confidence and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) can be a very powerful way of getting your life back and helping yourself to enjoy your life so much more and leaving behind that shame, anger and fear without having to go through it all again. And why would you want to “go through it all again”?

Now this is not to say that all hypnotherapists and EFT practitioners will use these techniques in a “content free” way so you will need to discuss with the therapist how they work before committing yourself.

I have found that the more I work in these areas with clients the less of the background details I need to know and interestingly the more I work in this “content free” way the more effective the changes become. If a client wishes to tell their story then that is fine but sometimes it is just too painful or we may not even consciously remember anything about it because we have safely repressed that information and trying to unearth it would probably not be a good idea anyway.

Using EFT and hypnotherapist glasgow in specific ways designed to help clients unconsciously release bad memories is often remarkably effective and I have seen clients achieve massive changes in confidence and self esteem within one or two sessions with very little discussion about their past and how it made them feel. An important part of the work is releasing that connection but releasing so that one can become free to build a life that looks forward instead of back.

So what I am saying here is that my experience tells me that releasing trauma and difficult past experience does not need to be a long and painful drawn out affair. You really can put space between you and the past in a healthy and safe way with the absolute minimum of discomfort.

If you feel your future is being blighted by your past then you can call or email me and I will be happy to discuss this with you.

Stress

I am getting more and more enquiries about help for stress related issues. Some will be about stress at work, some stress in relationships and many just a feeling of being generally overwhelmed with nothing the client can put a finger on.

To cope effectively with pressure, motivation and excitement in our lives and to get things done, perform at work and deal with everyday issues effectively we need the mind and body to be able to “wind up” to a certain level that will give us the energy to do the things that need doing. However, the problem is being able to let go of the excess tension at the appropriate moments, to be able to calm the body and mind so that we do not get locked in an internal “flight or flight” loop that seems impossible to get out of.

Ideally we should be able to move reasonably easily from a state of medium or even high internal tension to a more relaxed state of being since there is nothing inherently wrong with the state of stress in itself. In fact it is an indication that our body is doing all the right things, it just means that it is not doing “all the right things in the right order” and that is when we get stuck in a primal part of the brain that is only designed to “save” us but does not have the tools to make rational and organised decisions. Hence, we feel as if we are out of control.

Feeling out of control is an extremely uncomfortable feeling and if we have no tools or strategies to help us regain some feeling of being in control then we will be left feeling helpless and hopeless. This then leads to a series of physical, emotional, behavioural, and cognitive symptoms to which there seems no way out. (Always first consult your GP in any case.) So what is the answer to this problem and what techniques can help?

It can also be useful to use more than one technique that will support and help a client achieve the best results. There are many therapies such as acupuncture, CBT, counselling and massage out there that will help with stress but in my opinion for stress and anxiety issues Hypnotherapy is one of the most simple, safe and effective ways to help rapidly calm and heal the mind and body. (If you would like to sample a free hypnosis experience there is a download at the top of the home page of my website.) Meditation, mindfulness and yoga are very popular now and any one or combination of these other techniques with the right professional practitioner will help alleviate the symptoms of stress. Sometimes it can be beneficial to use a variety of techniques to help strengthen the parasympathetic (relaxation part) nervous system and achieve a more dynamic balance over the whole system.

We will all come up against many times of stress during our lives and they may be big or small instances but learning how to deal with them is the key.

If you would like any more information on how I am helping clients deal with stress and anxiety and how Hypnosis, Emotional Freedom Technique and my own simple and powerful strategies designed to help turn your thinking around on a daily basis please call or email and I will be happy to help.

Have you thought about changing your thoughts?

Andy Murray competing in the 2016 French Open tennis quarter finals was heard to shout “Absolute Turnip” to himself as he fought to break the serve of big hitter John Isner. Apparently this is a phrase he has been using for a few years now, presumably for shots that were not his best and it certainly worked on this occasion.

However, how often during the day do we talk to ourselves and are we really listening to what we say to ourselves carefully? Pretty much everything we say to ourselves will have some unconscious effect on our perception of ourselves and our skills. It may not be enough for us to notice any immediate difference but the “drip, drip” effect of this self talk can easily make a big difference to our confidence and self esteem over time.

Now we may find it amusing to call ourselves or our tennis game “absolute turnip” but remember that your unconscious mind is listening to everything you say and may not be translating it the way you expect.

Have you ever told a child “now don’t drop those plates”? Seems to be very good advice and a very good suggestion. But what message does the unsuspecting youngster hear first? Drop the plates!! Why, because the brain will first do a quick rehearsal of “drop the plates” before adding in “don’t”. Too late! The plates are on the floor and broken before the conscious mind has a chance to save the situation.

There is a very good book “Your body believes every word you say” and if we think about it for a moment we cannot have an emotional feeling without a physical reaction any more than we can experience something physical without some sort sort of emotional experience. Plus, our mind is constantly making decisions for us before we know we have even thought of them. This is a very useful thing since this leaves the prefrontal cortex free to make our executive decisions and operate hopefully with our best interests in mind, while we carry on doing our everyday tasks like walking downstairs or washing up.

So it’s well worth paying a little more attention to your “self talk” bearing in mind that there are lots of different parts of you listening to what you say and interpreting that information perhaps not in the way you expect. Maybe saying our tennis is “absolute turnip” is no big deal but saying derogatory statements about ourselves and our skills certainly is. We all deserve better so make sure you do a bit of weeding around that unconscious vegetable patch and grow some more positive thoughts. It really will make a difference.

How easy do you find it to forgive? I think for most of us it is a very hard thing to do and seems to go against every primal instinct in our body and mind. We may spend weeks, months, years or even a lifetime, harbouring thoughts of retribution and revenge but where does that get us?

“To forgive or not forgive?”

The interesting thing is that if for a moment we can bring our thoughts out of our primal (or reptilian) brain (yes we all have one of those!) and into our frontal cortex (put your palm above your eyebrows and over your forehead.. yes, you’ve got it) the thinking part of our brain knows that we are the only one hurting ourselves whilst the perpetrator is most likely away enjoying their life free of any of the malignant feelings that are keeping us stuck in a very painful place.

OK, we may be right and they may be wrong. We can all do righteousness can’t we? But the truth is it is only ourselves who are hurting, and tainting our lives and future with poisonous thinking.

Now I am not saying that this is easy but it is worth thinking about isn’t it? I say to my clients that we can “do” forgiving as a purely selfish act and that is OK. Why do I think it is OK? Simply because it is better than ruining the rest of your life in a state of hatred and turmoil while the other party gets on with their life, most likely without a second thought!

Another valuable part of forgiveness is to forgive oneself. Yes this is important but something we don’t always think of. Forgive yourself for getting into that mess, for being taken in, for not seeing it coming. Whatever it is forgive and allow yourself to move on. If forgiveness is just a step too far at the moment then use the word accept. Acceptance also helps us move forward with our own lives without bringing past issues and personalities along with us on our journey.

Free yourself with forgiveness

The quality of your journey is more important than anything else and the less baggage you carry around the better your life experiences will be, now and in the future. And also this is very important for everyone around you . It can be a tough, tough call but just start breaking the resistance down bit by bit and you will find the changes will free you to live and enjoy the life you deserve.

If you need help with forgiveness, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) is one of the most rapid and powerful ways to release yourself from past history and rebuild your life. Youtube EFT or click this link to give it a go on your own, EFT tapping forgiveness or just get in touch with me and I will be happy to help with any support, questions or advice.

Snakes in the brain

“Snakes in the brain” was one way the genial and talented prolific winner on the PGA tour Ernie Els described his putting meltdown on the first green at Augusta National golf course as he started the second round of the 2016 Masters golf tournament.

It took six putts to get the ball in the hole from just 3 feet and any golfer watching, amateur or professional would have felt like turning their eyes away as a four times Major winner and previous number one in the world had a disastrous meltdown with his putting stroke.

Well Ernie is not the only illustrious player to suffer with what in golfing terms is called “the yips” where the brain seems unable to convey to the muscles the clean and precise movement required to make the stroke. Last season Tiger Woods struggled with his chip shots which at times seemed to give the ball a mind of it’s own which did not include heading anywhere in the direction of the hole.

And golfers are not the only sports people to struggle with this problem in their careers. It can suddenly appear in the games of professional and amateur snooker, darts and cricket players. In fact any skill requiring a high level of subtle muscle, eye and brain co-ordination can become plagued by this seemingly irrational inability to carry out a movement that may have been working perfectly for years.

So what is going on here? Basically there is some sort of neurological interference with the regular messages that pass through the brain to the muscles resulting in a conflict between those messages and the movements that we have pre programmed into the muscles.

Now if you think you may be suffering from a Functional Neurological Disorder then the first step is to seek help from your medical practitioner. However this particular issue can be as much psychological as physical and I offer processes and techniques designed to help return the brain signals back to smooth natural communication. This is an area that I specialise in for musicians and sports people. In fact any situation that involves high levels of performance which could be winning a golf tournament or just writing one’s name in front of other people. Anything where pressure seems to break down the natural communications between body and brain.

To help get the body and brain back to clear communication it is not only the muscles and thinking that need to be examined but also our psychological state. The golfers yips or the violinist’s “pearlies” are often just the presenting symptoms of unconscious issues from past experiences that, unless resolved will continue to sabotage our best efforts to think clearly and act smoothly under pressure.

I work regularly in this area with professional and amateur golfers, snooker players, footballers musicians and have also presented workshops to performers and sports persons at Universities and Colleges around the country. In fact for any discipline that calls on us to perform at times out of our comfort zone and requires clear thinking, confidence and clarity of physical movement I offer a range of powerful strategies and techniques designed to take performance to the next level.

For more information just call or email me, 07970218451, roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be very happy to discuss this further.

A mindful tip to enhance your happiness and add a little extra pleasure to your life

Although there is no doubt that it could make our lives more comfortable we have all heard the saying “money can’t buy you happiness”. So if money can’t make us happy what can and what can we do to get more of this thing called happiness? After all if we can find the secret to happiness it should be easy shouldn’t it? Just follow a simple set of rules and just be – well, happy?

But what does it actually feel like and what do we have to do that will “switch on” that feeling of pleasure, satisfaction and real meaning in our lives? Of course if I knew the answer to that I would be an extremely rich person and also have the “answer” to happiness! A win, win situation don’t you think?

However I do have one or two useful tips that I use to help myself and my clients engage with a mindfulness mindset that helps one highlight and acknowledge the subtle things that are happening around us all the time that will give us pleasure if we allow ourselves a few moments to acknowledge them.

By now we should pretty much on the same page and agreed that money and consumer items may give a passing experience of pleasure but there is often still a feeling that something is missing.

A few years ago while I was wrestling with my thoughts over this conundrum it suddenly struck me that the experiences I was looking for were happening all around me pretty much all the time but the problem was that I just wasn’t paying enough attention to them. For instance when I walked out of the front door and the sun was shining it may have registered somewhere in my brain that it was a pleasant experience but had I truly connected with it and acknowledged it in a way that would help me experience a meaningful difference to my day?

Then I realised the answer was staring me in the face at which point it all looked so obvious. If I could make that subtle and almost imperceptible fleeting experience just a little stronger and last a just a little longer what would happen and how would it impact the rest of my day? One thing I did know was that every time we get a pleasurable experience the mind subtly switches gear and sends an alpha wave (pleasant dreamy feeling) across the brain.

Now there was still one small problem, how would I, without interrupting my stride, simply and easily strengthen this message?

For those of us on Facebook we all know that there is a “like” button and Facebook knows a lot more about what is going on in our brains than we might want to imagine. When you press the “like button” or someone reciprocates a pleasurable alpha wave automatically and unconsciously flits across your brain giving you a little dose of the feel good factor (dopamine). Simple isn’t it? So there and then I just started pressing my own “like” button in my mind whenever I saw the opportunity. It may have been the sun coming out, noticing the colour of a flower or enjoying a pleasant coffee break, in fact anything that was simple and pleasurable that I may have missed or discounted as trivial or had just been passing me by while my ego had been focusing on “important stuff.”

So why is it so effective and yet so simple? Because your creative mind “likes” simple (or rather creative) and doesn’t need a mathematical formula or algorithm to make powerful change.

So try it out. It is simple, it takes up no time, no one knows you are doing it and it could help you experience a little more happiness and pleasure in your day, every day.

Press your own “like” button and have fun.

If you would like more information about how Hypnosis, EFT and NLP could make a real difference in your life just call me on 07970218451 or email and I will be happy to help.

Don’t get angry or get even – “get even tempered” with hypnosis!

How angry are you? Do you “lose it” over the slightest thing? Do you find yourself seething inside feeling as if no one ever understands you? Is your driving getting scarily aggressive and is everyone on the road “in your way”?

These are just a few of the symptoms we can experience when anger gets out of control and if so it is time to get to work on it before things get much worse.

There are lots of ways we can express our anger, and anger is a natural human expression. It is also a very powerful primal instinct designed to keep us safe from dangerous situations and if it gets out of control can create havoc in our life and for the lives of those around us. In our modern world we are no longer in day to day hostile environment but “acting out” as if were can lead to many situations that are unhealthy, unsafe and dangerous.

Unchecked anger can ruin relationships, health and the enjoyment of life. It drives away family and friends, can lead to loss of jobs and income and even our freedom by making us do things we regret later. Controlling anger is not usually a difficult thing to do and once we have the skills and understanding about what is going. With this in place then life can begin to turn around into a pleasure rather than literally a continuous fight.

Anger triggers the “fight” part of the “fight or flight” response which when left unchecked starts to operates on an uncontrollable “hair trigger” and that is a very dangerous situation to get into.

Since we all are programmed to experience some anger it is important thing to be able to manage and control it in a healthy way. When we have the tools to do this the anger can be diffused and will not be able to hijack our emotions as it may have done in the past.

There are many ways to help guide one’s mind and thinking into a more relaxed and healthier pattern such as exercise, yoga, meditation, mindfulness and finding a hobby. However it can also be important to get some professional help. I use a variety of techniques such as hypnosis, EFT and NLP that are all designed to help clients regain control and enjoy their lives on a daily basis. Hypnosis is an exceptionally valuable tool to help teach the body’s nervous system how to relax and also release physically and emotionally. An expert professional will often be able to turn this around in two or three sessions and give you the tools to continue these changes on a daily basis.

If you would like any more information on this subject and the help available to enable you to make a remarkable difference in your life then please call or email and I will be very happy to help.

Talk about mental health with Time to Talk

On Thursday this week (February 4th 2016) it will be “Time To Talk” day. Time To Talk day has been organised for the last three years by charities Mind, and Rethink Mental Illness under the umbrella Time To Change and the aim is to encourage people to share their feelings and discuss their stories and personal experiences about mental health in person and via Facebook and Twitter.

Although this is primarily a project that has been been organised in England over the last three years, in Scotland, England and Wales one in four people will suffer from some sort of mental health issue and encouraging people to talk about it can only help break down the taboos and difficulties around discussing mental illness.

For various reasons people find it hard to talk openly about mental illness so engaging everyone helps bring into the open a subject that has been in need of more awareness and understanding for a long time now. It is really much more common than we think and this initiative can only help and encourage a greater understanding and support for anyone going through difficult times. Knowing that you are not alone is invaluable in helping support the healing process.

According to a Time to Change survey 60% of those interviewed found the stigma and discrimination around issues such as depression, anorexia and anxiety were as debilitating as the symptoms they were suffering. If we have a physical illness we are much less likely to keep it to ourselves than a mental one because of the stigma surrounding mental illness.

Talking with friends and family is a great therapy but there is a point when one needs to take the next step and that is of course seeing your GP, and or appropriate professional organisation who will be able to help you get the best treatment.

The three charities below are a good place to start if you or someone you know is having difficulty in getting the support and advice they need.

For more about Time To Talk day follow this link

Time to Talk

See me Scotlandis a Scottish charity also with the aim of ending mental health stigma and discrimination and for Wales follow the link below for more information

So here we are halfway through January 2016 but also halfway through “dry January” which means taking up the challenge not to drink any alcohol until February. Alcohol Concern who are running The campaign point out the significant benefits such as weight loss, better sleep and of course more money in your pocket.

The question is, what happens on February 1st? On that day many people will make an important change in their habits and from their experience of “dry January” take stock of their situation. Having experienced the benefits of moderate drinking or even not drinking at they will make the decision to stop or cut down on their habit.

However writing in The British Medical Journal Ian Hamilton, lecturer at York University raises the question whether after this 31 days abstinence it might just give some people unconscious permission to continue with their dangerous levels of drinking until the next New Year’s Day.

The good news is that according to research by Public Health England after the 2015 campaign 67% of participants actually continued the changes they had made in January and were still maintaining a more healthy level of drinking after 6 months.

However if you find you are using drink to support or ignore other issues in your life this self medication is not a healthy way to deal with problems in one’s life especially on a long-term basis.

There is help available and just taking that first step to get help is the most important thing to do in this situation. There is a wide variety of options available from an appointment with your Doctor, a visit to AA and other specialist organisations that have the skills and knowledge to help. The sooner one deals with this the better and the sooner, as one long term alcoholic described it, the sooner one will be released from “living in the madness”

There can be many reasons why one may use alcohol but it is almost always to divert one’s attention from issues that at some point will need addressing. With the right help one can start to put one’s life back together and learn the skills that will make the difference between fulfilment and pleasure in life or a steady descent into “the madness”.

If you feel you may be “Living in the Madness” and would like to know more about how I help clients with addictions I will be pleased to discuss this with you. I offer powerful tools, strategies and techniques that have helped many of my clients completely rebuild their self belief, confidence and their lives. Please call or email and I will tell you how I can help you.

OCD Awareness Week

This week (11-17 October 2015) is OCD Awareness week and already there have been suggestions that this emotionally painful and destructive condition is still being served up with a mild “vanilla” flavouring!

“We’re all a bit OCD”

That is the sort of phrase that is often thrown into a conversation but in truth is way off the mark. Unless we find that what we imagine are our “OCD” compulsions and repetitive thoughts are leaving us feeling anxious to the point of exhaustion, powerless, helpless and continually burdened with a feeling of guilt (and these are just a few of the debilitating symptoms sufferers experience) it is unlikely that our being “a bit OCD” has very much resemblance at all to what it really feels like to suffer OCD on a daily basis.

A recent BBC Horizon programme about OCD was titled “A Monster in my Mind” and that title really sums up the daily experience that invades the life of someone with OCD. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder “hijacks” the logical and cognitive thinking processes often virtually rendering the ability to get on with one’s everyday life almost impossible.

A list of some common symptoms of OCD

Fears that you might murder someone
Thoughts of sexual violence
Worrying you may have run someone over
Continuous checking
Worry that you may have offended God
Worries that you may have contracted a serious illness.
Fear of contamination

These are just a few of the thinking patterns that get stuck in a loop in the mind.
The choices of treatments on the NHS are mainly medication and cognitive behavioral therapy and OCD can take over someone’s thoughts and actions so powerfully that there is often a case for medication to help calm the system even to get treatment started.

According to recent research we have a primal operating system in the brain that is continually checking in the background for anything that might be dangerous to our survival. So in one sense we are all operating with the same equipment and perhaps are “a bit OCD” but if this equipment is switched on permanently at full tilt it becomes a recipe for continuous mental torture.

I use a range of techniques and strategies that are designed to help quieten these overactive messages.
If you would like more information about how Hypnosis, EFT and NLP can help you please contact me.

Are you looking for more from your life, your career, yourself, your relationships? Self Hypnosis, NLP and EFT can help make remarkable life changes.

self hypnosis confidence

How is your life today compared to the life you would like? Do you feel that something is missing, that you have so much more to offer but don’t know where to start? Is your career and confidence stalling and you feel you are just not getting the pleasure out of your life that you could? Perhaps this affecting your relationships?

What if strategies and techniques were available right now to help open the door to creativity, higher conscious awareness, inner peace and happiness?

Happiness is something that starts within and can’t be found outside ourselves and it is only when we have the good luck or the tools to help discover the secrets to generating happiness in our lives that we can truly begin to move towards our full potential.

Self Hypnosis, NLP, and EFT have within them many unique strategies for change and are powerful techniques that can help deliver the experiences in your life that you have been looking for. In fact in my experience they have within them vital tools and techniques to help begin to generate powerful change in confidence, self belief and inner peace that will last a lifetime.

Hypnosis not only helps us learn how relax but is a gateway to the unconscious from where we can access the brainwaves (Alpha and Theta) that open the doors to creative change and the release of blocks that may have been holding us back from fully believing in and engaging our unique talents.

NLP “a system of alternative therapy based on this which seeks to educate people in self-awareness and effective communication, and to change their patterns of mental and emotional behaviour.” Richard Bandler, co-founder of NLP

EFT is form of acupressure based on tapping on with your fingers on meridian points (the points an acupuncturist would put a needle in) while voicing any problems or issues that may need releasing and using positive affirmations to help channel one’s energy into a healthier direction. This helps relax our thinking and body thus clearing a path to moving one’s life on in an empowering way.

I use these techniques to help my clients make very positive and powerful changes in their lives and give them the tools to continue these changes into their future. By contacting a professional therapist who uses these techniques you can find that you could develop your self hypnosis confidence, building self esteemand creativity and quality of life rapidly and successfully.

There is a post doing the rounds on Facebook at the moment that says “want a bikini body? Put on a bikini and stop giving a s*** what everyone else thinks!!”

Fighting talk, and amusing enough if you don’t actually care what people think. However many people worry very much about “what everyone else thinks” and it can be very hard to acquire the confidence and thick skin to ignore those thoughts. “What other people think of me is none of my business” is one of my favourite quotes but we live in a culture that celebrates celebrity. We have celebrities on our TVs and ipads every moment of the day setting new trends in fashion, body image and status. Also we may be struggling with past conditioning without even knowing what it is that is keeping us in a low self esteem, lack of confidence mindset.

Lack of confidence in ourselves emotionally and lack of confidence on a physical level will have a profound effect on how we act, react and communicate in pretty much all our everyday communications, social and business . This obsession with body image and how we perceive ourselves and imagine others perceive us can easily tip over into even more destructive issues such as depression and eating disorders so it is important to get good professional help to turn this around and get one’s life back.

No one should have to spend their lives short changing themselves on confidence, happiness and self respect and although the reasons behind these feelings may be complex that does not mean it need take a long time and a lot of therapy sessions to turn this around. Techniques such as Hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), EMDR (Eye movement desensitisation and reprocessing) and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) can help achieve real and positive freedom from this state often in a remarkably short period of time.

All these techniques have a positive track record in achieving rapid and lasting change that other therapies cannot always match. If we could change just by thinking consciously and knowing consciously what we want to change then it would not in most cease be a problem. However it is rarely as simple as that. However the reason that change can be so rapid and effective with these therapies is that they all help connect with our creative unconscious, the very part of us that has the tools to reprogramme our feelings and thoughts.

It may feel a daunting task to turn something such as this round but with the right help it can be a life affirming experience that has the promise to make massive change in a very healthy way.

If you would like any more information just call or email and I will be very happy to help.

“I can’t believe so much has changed in my thinking in the last few weeks., and I feel in a different place again. I am so much more confident and positive. Thank you.” – DG

“What would you like to have happen today?” is a phrase often used by therapists as an initial question given to a client at the beginning of a session. Written down like this it can seem a bit stilted and awkward sounding but if you ask yourself this very question right now notice for a second what your mind is doing? Just ask yourself “What would I like to have happen today?” and think about it for a moment. You may notice that your mind will be making a search or reference for something that could be a possible match to what you would “like to have happen”.

In general we seek therapy when there is an issue in our lives that is causing us discomfort. It will be an issue that we don’t want and an issue we would like to remove from our life in one way or another. Naturally the main focus of one’s thoughts when in this state is “can the therapist remove this unpleasant feeling?” However, have we thought about what sort of experience we would like to have in our lives once the issue is resolved?

Just think for a moment about what would happen if you wanted to move from where you live now because for various reasons it had become unsuitable for your needs and life style. You wouldn’t just move out without giving any thought to what would be the important things you would like in your new home and neighbourhood that are not available where you are at present.

And so it is when we are looking for emotional change in our lives. Whether to relieve anxiety, lose weight or gain confidence what we are looking for is the end goal and how it is going to change our lives in the future. In other words it is very important to have an idea of how your life is going to change for the better and how you would like to experience life in the future rather than only thinking about what you don’t want.

“And what will you notice when you have made these changes?”

This is another powerful question I often ask as the client begins to experience, in their imagination, subtle shifts in perception and understanding. They may have already created in their mind walking onto a plane with no fear and anxiety or confidently giving a presentation at work. Because the change that they have begun to develop will make a massive difference to their holiday or their confidence in the workplace this will be the time for their unconscious to share this information with the conscious mind and positively strengthen the new neural connections that the brain is making.
Isn’t it interesting how just a couple of simple questions trigger so much change without us even knowing how it happens? We have moved from negative to positive without even noticing it. Suddenly the mind is focusing on what you do want much more than what you don’t want! It’s just like hypnosis isn’t it?

So what would you like to have happen today?
If you would like to make exceptional changes in your life or experience your life more positively on a daily basis do get in touch and find out how I can help you.

If you would like more information or to book a session just call or email me and I will be happy to help.

“Hi Roger, Thank you very much for today, it’s left me in a great mood!” – BD

I have been using EFT in my practice for many years now and it never ceases to amaze me how simple and effective this technique is. If you want a technique that you can use and take with you “in your back pocket” wherever you are and whatever circumstances you are in then EFT is the obvious choice.

EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) has been around now for 20 years and was developed by Gary Craig from Roger Callaghan’s Thought Field Therapy. It is termed as an energy psychology and works by tapping on certain acupressure points around the body whilst verbalising (internally or out loud) the issues you are working on.

It is a favourite technique of mine and often clients will come in with no knowledge of it and I will demonstrate to them without initially explaining it a simple round of tapping on the specific points to see what experience they get. They may look a bit perplexed as we begin the “round” tapping on the side of the hand then tapping with the fingers on 7 points around the body whilst reciting the problem out loud. The interesting thing is that even after one or two rounds which will take only a minute of two at most, their face and body will relax and when I ask them how they feel they will usually say, with a pleasantly surprised look on their face, “well, I seem to feel a bit more relaxed”.
This almost instant reduction in the discomfort of the problem is to me proof that meaningful and powerful change has already begun. We may have only just started the session and the work we will do but now my client is also learning a technique that will help empower them on a daily basis. And this will be a technique they will soon learn and be able to take with them and use without me having to be there. As I say to clients “I don’t know what you will be thinking at 5 o’clock tomorrow any more than I know what I will be thinking at 5 o’clock tomorrow” but if it is something you want to deal with then EFT can help you deal with it on the spot.

The well respected complimentary medicine and nutrition expert, osteopath and best selling author Dr Mercola has written various articles about the benefits of EFT and has a video and information about how effective it can be for relieving stress and tension headaches.

Self-confidence – Self-image – Better relationships – Forgiveness – Procrastination – Goal achievement – Work performance – Sport performance – Personal peaceTo find out more about how Emotional Freedom Technique can help you just get in touch and I will be happy help.

Have been meaning to get back to you for ages to say thank you so much for your support with myChronic Fatigue Syndrome. As you know we met just before a very big trip abroad. The two sessions really helped lift my energy levels pretty much from zero to high enough to allow me to pack and get myself to the airport, which was looking a bit doubtful at that point in time.Your techniques supported me throughout the 3 months I was away and I would recommend your methods and support for anyone living with this condition.Thanks again

People can become addicted to a wide range of substances and behaviours and these substances and behaviours are often things that most of us partake in on a daily basis. They may be drinking, gambling, sex or drugs and although the majority of us don’t engage in class A drug even food, sugar, prescription drugs are all substances that one can become addicted to in an unhealthy way.

There is plenty of debate around whether addiction is a mental illness or a “brain disease” and it is interesting to note that people can often readily switch from one addiction to another. At AA many in the group may well have switched their addiction from drinking alcohol to smoking and drinking copious amounts of coffee. A shopping addict may turn to gambling. It is not necessarily the particular substance or behaviour that is important. Getting the hit is the prize.

In fact an addict is always chasing the experience of their first hit, that almost primal experience that took them out of themselves and the reality of the world they found it hard to be part of. Of course the first hit will never be repeated for intensity and experience so looking to repeat it only continues the cycle.

I work with eating disorders, gambling, prescription drug taking etc. and many of my clients have “done the rounds” of therapies talking about their experiences and being talked to about how to change their lives. However sometimes things can better be “said without saying” which is why I thought it worth posting this video.

Please watch this short video if you or someone you know could be suffering from an addiction

Can you stop yourself worrying?

As Mark Twain said in his famous quote “I have known a great many troubles in my life but most of them have never happened”

Many of us spend a lot of our lives worrying about things that seem at the time very important. And yet however overwhelmed we feel by these worries we are “still here at the end of the day to tell the tale.” This is not to say that there are not things in life that we may describe as legitimate worries. But the interesting thing is that when we really have something important to worry about we are often suddenly able to galvanise ourselves into action and deal with the situation in a way that it is hard to imagine possible with minor issues.

So what are the figures when it comes to categorising the quality of worry in our lives? It makes interesting reading.

Putting it into perspective such as this can be a valuable way to help rationalise our responses and manage or defuse them.

However if you think you still need some tools and techniques that will really help you get on with your life there are two tools that I have found to be amongst the best to help release the demon of constant stress, worry and anxiety about things.

Hypnotherapy and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique)

Why do I think Hypnosis and EFT are so good at helping us make change? Because they speak to the unconscious mind, the part of us that does not have the reasoning powers of the conscious mind but the part that generates change from the creative part of the mind. Most smokers would know logically they should stop like most of us know how to lose a few pounds if we want to lose weight but the conscious mind deals in logic and the bridge to logic and making a change is much harder to cross than the creative bridge from our unconscious. We may consciously know every step we should take but taking those steps is another matter. Harnessing the power of our creative unconscious can really clear the way to making amazing changes in our lives.

If you would like to know more about the techniques I use and how my experience has given me the opportunity to develop strategies that are practical yet amazingly effective to help relieve that uncomfortable “background noise” that is worry just call or email and I will be very happy to chat with you.

Hypnosis and EFT to help stress and hair pulling issues

Trichotillomania is an emotional disorder similar to OCD. It involves pulling body hairs out, usually one at a time to help experience some form of relaxation or stress relief. Obviously one or two hairs pulled out will not be noticed but continuous hair pulling will soon mean a noticeable bald patch appearing. This will generally add to the distress and hiding the problem becomes another problem in itself. Hair is often pulled from the head but can be from the eyebrows or pubic hair.

The hair pulling can take the form of a ritual, until it feels “just right” or be an automatic, often unconscious action. In psychological terms it may be a way of relieving stress or anxiety, a form of self harm or an addictive behaviour that temporarily relieves the symptoms.

As I suggest to clients it is important first to get a medical opinion, however there are various psychological therapies that can be used, hypnosis being one of them. I help treat clients with this issue using hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) NLP and very importantly helping build the clients’ confidence and self worth.

A recent client was a student who was using the hair pulling to relieve stress around her university course and the pressure of exams. She was pulling hair from her eyebrows but after one session had reduced the habit considerably and after three sessions was feeling much less anxious, more confident and happy and had stopped it altogether. As with any addictive or compulsive behaviour it is important to be prepared for stress triggers in the future and have in place effective tools to deal with such situations. We all know that no one is immune from stress and that there will be times in our lives when it will be impossible to avoid so being prepared to deal with it effectively when or if it arises is very important.

I find hypnosis and EFT a very powerful combination of therapies that offer clients tools that will last them a lifetime and help them regain and continue to keep control of their lives even when the therapy is concluded.

If you would like to discuss any of these issues just call or email me and I will be happy to chat with you.

Anxiety. Hypnosis, EFT, NLP can help anxiety issues

Most of us will have had some experience of anxiety at some point in our lives and that is perfectly normal. Meeting new people, a visit to the dentist or getting prepared for a holiday are just a few example of the type of everyday experiences that may make us feel a bit tense at times. However if anxiety starts to become a constant in our lives that is the time when it is important to address the issues and put into place ways of dealing with it.

In my work I help clients with a large number of issues and have at my disposal a wide range of techniques that I can use depending on the client and their situation. Hypnosis, NLP, EFT and EMDR, are therapies that are very powerful and can be rapidly effective at helping release conscious and unconscious issues that may be contributing to the discomfort a client may be feeling in their everyday lives. In fact what I really like about using these and the other modalities is that I rarely have to go back into great detail about problems from people’s past that they may wish not to delve into too deeply or often cannot even remember consciously.

Now it can be very valuable to help release the past events or experiences that have contributed to distressing feelings but I have developed strategies that I feel are equally important that clients can use on a daily basis wherever they are and at any given moment in time. Life is naturally constantly “happening” to us and we do not know what we are going to experience or how we are going to feel until we are experiencing in and experiencing a situation. If we have no tools to make adjustments on a moment by moment basis we are missing powerful opportunities to help adjust our moment by moment responses in a positive way. To me the constant effect of the underlying rumble of negative and mildly uncomfortable feelings we experience a day by day often barely in our conscious awareness are just as important to address as the larger issues.

One of my favourite techniques consists of three one syllable words -“Let That Go”. It may seem very simple, and it is, which is the beauty of it, However my clients find that by being able to use this phrase whenever a negative feeling or anxiety occurs it simply helps diminish the uncomfortable emotions which can continue to build up almost in a stealth like way. I feel that having tools to address situations at any
time and in any place are as vitally important as the therapy work done in my office.

It is important to get professional help for an anxiety disorder if you notice it is beginning to diminish the pleasure in your life. Using hypnosis and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) with an experienced practitioner is in my opinion one of the most effective ways to get oneself back to feeling so much better. If left too long generalised anxiety symptoms can begin to develop into anxiety attacks or panic attacks.

So, if any time you have even a mildly negative experience remember that everything counts and saying “Let That Go” to oneself means that you can start to have more control in how you feel. No one else knows what you are saying and there is no need to wonder if it worked or how different you feel because the positive effects are cumulative and it can be surprising how soon you might start to notice yourself feeling that bit better each day. For me it is a tool for life and I hope you enjoy using it.

For more information on the work I do and how I could help you just call 07970218451 or email me and I will be very happy to help.

What else can hypnosis help me with?

The issues that immediately spring to mind when considering hypnotherapy are stopping smoking, phobias and weight loss. However there are a surprising number of other conditions that hypnosis can help resolve or at the very least assist in experiencing a better quality of life. In fact there is are few issues that hypnotherapy will not have some form of positive effect on in one way or another. Even the stress and pain of a serious physical problem can be alleviated to some degree with hypnosis. In fact I saw a cancer patient last year and we did some deep relaxation hypnosis and he could not believe how good it felt to just go in his mind to a place of wonderful quiet and relaxation after all the anxiety and troubles that he had been through. A lady with scoliosis and persistent pain since she could remember found she could now enjoy sitting with her daughter right through a television programme without having to continually get up and leave the room just to alleviate the discomfort she had been experiencing.

Other areas that hypnosis can help achieve powerful results in are eating disorders, alcoholism and gambling. These are always notoriously tricky areas for therapists of any modality to treat. However if a client is ready to make a change I have found extremely good results can be achieved using hypnosis. The difference is that hypnosis works via the unconscious creative mind. When given the right tools and information to work with, the creative mind is able to make powerful changes where the conscious mind may have failed. Virtually every smoker knows consciously that they would like to stop but the conscious mind does not always have the tools to make this change. The unconscious creative mind has a different set of tools and is reached by accessing the slower alpha and delta waves the brain generates when we enter a trance state. This part of our mind tends to drive the right side of the brain, the “artist”, whilst the left side is driven more by the “accountant”. There is obviously a lot more to it but you can understand that your accountant is invaluable when it comes to presenting your accounts at the end of the year but you would not commission your accountant to paint a Michelangelo fresco on your ceiling! It is the creative part in us that more often than not holds the key to achieving change where other attempts have failed.

Because our psychological and physical health is so intertwined there is much that can be done to help problems such as Dystonia and my personal view on this issue is that although it is a physical manifestation dystonia can be linked to past programmes that are running unconsciously and creating an internal conflict. Focal Dystonia is a form of dystonia found in musicians and this is obviously career threatening when your fingers will not obey your brain. Similarly so with “the yips” which golfers can suffer from when putting. Here again past experiences can be exerting an unconscious resistance or interference between the muscles and the messages form the brain. Tourettes has a similar effect and there have been many instances of hypnosis massively alleviating the twitches and uncontrolled impulse that result in the sufferer finding themselves unable to prevent shouting out profanities or unintelligible noises in public. Performance, public speaking, procrastination, confidence and anxiety are amongst the many areas I help my clients on a daily basis. They often come to me having tried everything else knowingat using hypnotherapy can bring very rapid results and results that last.

Below is a list of just some of the issues hypnotherapists can help with so whatever the problem locate a qualified and expert practitioner to find out how they could help.

Always check with your medical practitioner if you have any of the * issues above before starting complimentary treatment. For more information just call me on 07970218451 or email me and I will be happy to help you and discuss what positive changes hypnosis could make for you and your life.

Hypnosis for higher performance skills

There was a fascinating interview on BBC Radio 5 Live this morning (20/07/14) with golfing legend Gary Player discussing the pressures of competing in the final round of the 2014 British Open at Hoylake. With Rory McIlroy poised with a 6 shot lead to take the crown Gary Player was asked how, in his career he dealt with the pressure of holding onto a lead on the final day against such players as Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Lee Trevino close behind in the final round. Gary talked about the major changes that he sees in the physical and mental areas of the game as everyone looks for that extra edge that makes all the difference. He was a pioneer in physical fitness for golf and was weight training at a time when most players would have thought that that level of physical fitness unnecessary. His three important markers to optimum achievement were working on physical strength, mental strength and attention to diet.

These days the rewards in sport are so great that no one can afford to leave anything to chance. Being able to control the mind and keep oneself in a state of higher awareness and intense mental clarity is the way to engage fully with every technical detail that has been painstakingly practised in training and on the practise ground. So how did Gary Player as far back as the 60’s and 70’s keep his mind focused and clear for those six hours of intense concentration when his closest rivals were breathing down his neck knowing that every shot could mean success or disaster? What was the secret method he used to keep his mind and body fully focused on the job of reaching the finishing line in first place?

Self hypnosis

So what is this optimum state and how can we achieve it? The great racing driver Ayrton Senna eloquently describes this state with an experience he had while on the way to winning the Monaco Grand Prix in 1988.

“That day I suddenly realised I was no longer driving consciously and I was in a different dimension. The circuit for me was a tunnel through which I was just going, going, going and I realised that I was well beyond my conscious understanding”

This is a wonderful description of the “out of body” heightened awareness state that any great sportsman or artist is aiming to develop as they take their skills to an ever higher level. The question is how do we access it whenever required rather than just hoping it will suddenly “turn up” at the crucial moment.

Being “In The Zone” is being in a state of trance, and hypnosis is a trance state that virtually anyone can access. All sports psychologists will talk about visualisation as a key to performance and hypnosis is the key to visualisation that gives anyone access to a greater part of their creative mind. Once that part of the mind is activated then the fluency of one’s hard won technical ability can become, as Senna describes, automatic.

Hypnosis is a fantastically powerful and accessible way to build a mental and visual repertoire of the information and mind sets required to take any skill to the highest level. Neither does hypnosis have to be a state that is only accessed with one’s eyes closed. Think of daydreaming and you have self hypnosis. Imagine being able to access the height of your skills in the best situations wherever and whenever with a mental skill that will engage your creative mind in a positive way. And with this ability being able to release simply and effectively all that information programmed into your muscles.

This heightened sate is often described by many of the top performers. Being “on a roll” or “in the zone” is a description of accessing a trance like state, and we can all do it. However knowing how to access it whenever required is a key to top performance.

So now we know that Rory Mcilroy won The Open at Hoylake with two shots to spare and this will take him even closer to the very highest level of golfing greats. All great performers have access to this state and Tiger Woods is another player said to have used hypnosis on a regular basis. Accessing hypnosis is easy but knowing how to use it to full advantage can bring amazing results.

I work with professional athletes, footballers, performing artists, snooker players and in fact with anyone who is searching to develop that next level of consciousness that allows them to access the very best of their skills day in day out.

If you would like to book an appointment, or to find out more information – please call 07970218451 or send an Email.

I will be happy to discuss with how Hypnosis, EFT and the many other techniques I use could help take your skills to the next level.

Do you suffer from health anxiety?

Do these worries take up a lot of your mental time and energy each day?

Do they affect your work and concentration?

Are you constantly checking your health and cross referencing symptoms on the internet? (Often the more we look the more likely we are to find something that to a non medical professional will appear to match our symptoms. This may then verify in our mind that we definitely must be suffering from this particular illness. In fact people with a health anxiety problem may well imagine that the very anxieties they are experiencing are proof that they have some form of serious illness!

Most of us will naturally worry about our health from time to time and having an awareness and interest in one’s health is a good habit. Unfortunately some people have an over exaggerated tendency worry about their health and once fixated on this ican become all consuming. If one has a tendency to worry a lot then health issues may well be an area that the mind fixates on. Persistent health anxieties can often be linked to OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) and obsessional thinking may well be part of the overall picture.

Getting a check-up from a medical practitioner is never something to avoid if we have genuine concern for our health but finding that your life is being taken over with constant unsubstantiated health worries is another issue. Some people with health anxiety will find themselves looking constantly for reassurance from their doctor or talking it through with friends. Others will actually avoid going to see a medical professional for fear of getting their “illness” ratified and so will spend their time in constant fear, worry and pursuing their own “medical research”. Thus, what may have started as a minor worry can soon escalate into paranoia taking over one’s life often to the detriment of personal relationships and career.

A health anxiety issue may come from such sources such as illness as a child, a family member suffering from a serious illness or a family member who has constant anxiety around their health.

I regularly work with clients who are struggling with this issue which may also be linked to depression or an anxiety disorder. I use hypnosis and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) as the main strategies for healthy change when working with clients with health anxieties. In my practice I find them to be excellent tools to help alleviate the stress and anxieties that go along with this issue helping to bring about a more measured and rational approach to day to day health.

Thank you for taking the time to read this article, if you would like to make an appointment please visit the website. Alternatively, please send an Email

To discuss my services in the first instance, please call 07970218451 and I will be happy to discuss how I could help you.

Imposter syndrome and Fraud syndrome

Do you feel that you are promoted beyond your capabilities and will soon be “found out”? Perhaps despite achieving top marks at University and securing a good position at work you are afraid that someone will expose you as a fraud! Perhaps you did not go to University and feel yourself lacking just because you don’t have that qualification even though you are very good at your job?

Imposter syndrome or Fraud syndrome is not a psychologically categorised issue but nevertheless affects many people even when they are performing well and achieving top promotions in their careers. However much positive evidence is available confirming their ability and competence there always remains a nagging doubt that they will soon be “discovered” for the fraud that they think they are. The mirror image of imposter syndrome is the Dunnuing-Kruger effect whereby incompetent people remain convinced of their own competence.

To anyone who feels comfortable and competent in their own field of expertise this can seem difficult to understand but for a sufferer even offhand comments and looks in the workplace can appear to be confirmation of one’s perceived inadequacies and lack of qualifications in an area where they most probably excel.

If you are suffering from Imposter Syndrome you may:

Be afraid people will “find you out” and see through you

Take normal advice or criticism to heart

Worry that praise and encouragement from others is misplaced or just being said to help you feel better

Think everyone else is better qualified than you.

Of course friends and colleagues will most likely continue to say that this type of thinking is nonsense and try to help with encouraging words and advice. But however well meaning this may be unfortunately the “imposter” will find little solace in their words since they “know” for sure it is only a matter of time before they will get found out. Have you tried saying to yourself “Don’t think that” “Stop worrying about it” or “Forget it”? You might just as well say “Don’t think of a pink elephant”!This sort of self talk rarely works and especially so in this sort of case.

I have a phrase that I often ask clients to say to themselves whenever negative self talk is taking over the mind. Telling oneself to stop thinking this way rarely works since the message will be filtered through the frontal cortex of the rational logical mind which usually rejects it. However I have found that when we say the phrase “That thought is not available” it is a great way to divert the message past this part of the mind and straight to the unconscious creative mind. Because these words make no logical sense to our analytical thinking the phrase bypasses the conscious process.

Obviously there is work to be done in releasing past conditioning and blocks that prevent positive and realistic assessment of one’s talent. In my therapy practice I find a combination of hypnosis and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) to be powerful ways to help my clients release past blocks and issues in a rapid, comfortable and empowering way.

In the words of Marianne Williamson from her book “Return to Love” “Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.”
To find out more about how Hypnotherapy, EFT, and NLP can massively help your confidence and self belief in this and other areas of your life just call 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to help you.

The Yips, Golf, Snooker, Darts, EFT and Hypnosis

The golf season has begun again and I am getting calls from golfers, cricketers snooker players and even a baseball player from the USA asking me how I can help with this strange affliction,the yips, whereby the body seems to take on a mind of it’s own and throw in a sudden, freeze, twitch or snatch of the hand or arm just at the critical moment of delivery.

So what can be done to help this totally frustrating condition that can ruin the enjoyment of a pleasurable game and wreck the career of a talented professional? Although on the surface this is a muscular problem in my opinion it more often than not also has it’s roots in psychological issues that are lurking below the surface of the conscious mind.

Let me illustrate the type of unconscious issue that could be behind this. It is fascinating how our unconscious can derail our best work thinking it is helping us. I have seen clients with an unconscious guilt that they are always winning or taking money from their golfing friends. What better way for the unconscious to sabotage you than to throw a twitch into that normally super smooth putting stroke. If your unconscious programme is that “nice people don’t win” then you have a problem each time it comes to that crucial moment you putt for the match or throw your dart for the bullseye. You don’t consciously understand why you missed but your unconscious does. It mistakenly thinks it is protecting you.

Although there is a relationship, I don’t necessarily believe that the yips are the same as “performance nerves” because the body does not necessarily shake nervously but can for instance in golf violently throw the putter off line in a dramatic and distorted way. However I do believe there is a relationship to Focal Dystonia which typically performing musicians can suffer from. What is happening is that there is a blip in the brainwave pattern rather like the picture on your TV screen scrambling for just a split second. This then throws the brain’s neural connections into chaos and the moment will be lost.

“I was in a positive frame of mind on Sunday at Muirfield and performed better than I ever have round the course. In foursomes format and playing with a 15 handicapper we shot a gross 84 in the morning and won our match and in the afternoon (with a 6 handicapper) shot a 79 gross (back in 1 over par) and halved the match. I didn’t miss from inside 10 feet in the morning, although missed a couple in the afternoon – can’t sink them all but much improved putting performance all round.” MG

To begin the process of recovery the old unconscious patterns need to be resolved. Since faulty neural pathways will have been installed these will need physically and mentally reorganised into healthy robust connections and of course confidence will need to be rebuilt. To do this I use a variety of techniques underpinned with EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and Hypnosis. The value of using these techniques lies in the fact that our conscious mind does not know how to resolve the issue however EFT and Hypnosis are brilliant vehicles for connecting with unconscious understandings and creative change. These techniques communicate with the unconscious mind and that is the part that has the key to help resolve these sorts of issues.

Just recently I helped turn round the game of a talented snooker player who’s cue was just “sticking” at the crucial moment. He had been struggling for over a year and was beginning to resent a game that he once loved. After just two sessions he could not believe the difference as he cleared the table while I just watched! Last season I helped club golfers make real improvements in their putting and chipping and professional musicians suffering with forms of Focal Dystonia, in the lips for wind players and hands and arms for string players, literally get their professional careers back on track.

“Since we met I have worked away at the swing thoughts we spoke about and have banished completely my short game problem. I don’t even acknowledge that word anymore my game is great even if its not went as well as I would have liked. I don’t have the same feeling of dread I used to have on approaching short shots or chips and my enjoyment of the game has improved greatly. So thanks again Roger.” CW

I have worked with many amateurs and professionals looking for help to enhance their performance and my experience as a performer has helped me put together a unique and powerful set of tools and strategies designed to help my clients achieve the very best results from their chosen sport. If you would like more information please call 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be very happy to chat with you.

Want to make a start and change your life?

1/ Love yourself

Most of us know how to love our family and friends, partners and children but have we ever thought about loving ourselves? On an aeroplane the rule in an emergency is for parents with children to first put their own oxygen mask on before they help their child. If the parent is unable to breathe how can they help their children? Loving ourselves in a healthy way is the oxygen that feeds us and helps us and every one around us flourish and grow. Unfortunately we may have been taught to think that “loving ourselves” is arrogant or big headed but far from it. To love and accept yourself can free you to truly be the person you want to be.

“Brilliant – I feel really, really good. very positive, improving everything in my life and I’m so much happier” LP

“I love and accept myself” is one of my favourite EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) phrases and by developing that mindset I have seen amazing transformations amongst clients suffering from low self esteem and lack of confidence. Why not try it out for a day and see what happens? If that phrase is initially a step too far then start first with “I’m OK”, then, “I value and accept myself”, and then, when you feel you are ready, “I love and accept myself”. These are amazingly powerful and empowering phrases that will help you build up the vital inner value and belief in yourself that you deserve.

2/ Let go of limiting beliefs

If the mind is full of limiting beliefs these will block anyone from achieving their goals and aspirations. Limiting beliefs may have been part of one’s thinking that may have been connected to old messages unconsciously picked up in childhood or from unpleasant previous experiences in our formative years. Being able to let go of these inappropriate messages is paramount if you want to achieve the goals and desires in your life that you would like. I have found just saying this hypnotic phrase “That thought is not available” to yourself any time a negative belief or phrase pops into the mind is a very effective and powerfully simple way to clear unwanted and destructive self talk.

“I can’t believe so much has changed in my thinking in the last few weeks., and I feel in a different place again. I am so much more confident and positive. Thank you.” – DG

3/ Connect with who you really are

Having a confident air and belief about yourself will unlock many doors and opportunities. However there are times when we feel awkward and “on the back foot” and these are often times when something has unconsciously triggered us back to a younger self, a self without the knowledge and understandings that we have actually gained in our lifetime. Think about a job interview – as soon as we sit down on that chair our unconscious mind may be reminded of being at school! This unconscious triggering can be very confusing and can be a major factor in lack of confidence and self esteem. However it can be turned round once we are aware of what is happening. By just taking a moment to become aware of those awkward moments and bring to mind all positive experiences and understandings that you have gained, and will continue to gain throughout your life will help you to come out of the “trance” that you have been in and select a healthier one. If in your mind you can connect with that knowledge and experience (i.e. your grown up self) you will be able to literally “trigger” your thinking into a much more positive state.

“Thanks for all your advice and showing me all the tools and techniques. I’m really glad I came to see you and grateful for everything. Hope to see you soon.” K

I am helping clients on a daily basis achieve wonderful improvements in their confidence and self esteem. Techniques such as Hypnosis, EFT and NLP are, in my experience, some of the most powerful building blocks for change. This is why I use them along with practical strategies and techniques that I have personally developed during my professional career as a therapist. These are strategies that can be used “in the moment” giving clients empowering tools that they can use on a practical level whatever situation they find themselves in.

If you would like to change your life and find out more about how I can help you just call me on 07970218451 and I will be happy to chat with you.

Have you been bullied? Hypnosis, NLP and EFT can help you achieve the life and confidence you really deserve.

Over the years I have worked with many clients who have been bullied at school or in the workplace. Some are in their middle age or older and some not long out of University. Some may come to see me about that issue itself and others will find that as we go through a session their past history of being bullied is a large part of the blocks that have been keeping them from achieving their goals and feeling confident and positive about themselves.

Bullying can take various forms including school bullying, work bullying and cyber bullying. Much aggressive behaviours can also come under the category of bullying. Bullying can be social, verbal or physical and may involve threats, taunts, embarrassment and even unsavoury gestures.

The long term effects of being bullied can be devastating and lead to depression, loneliness, lack of confidence and self esteem and sometimes the risk of suicide.

The good thing is that normally it really does not take a great deal of time to shift the old emotional wounds around the experience of having been bullied that will have often blighted people’s lives for many years. Using the appropriate techniques skilfully really helps clients make a massive turn around in their confidence and self-esteem.

Sometimes with this sort of work clients may initially feel worried that they will have to re experience and go through all the details of past uncomfortable ordeals. This need not be the case and the tools I use are deigned to achieve a rapid and permanent resolution with no, or very little discomfort. Also it is not necessary to have a conscious memory of the events to be able to release them. The unconscious mind will protect us if the conscious mind finds it too much to handle however it is still possible to clear this information even though it may not be accessible to the conscious mind. Releasing the past experiences means that they will no longer have a hold over one’s life.

A good therapist can make a massive difference to a person’s life so taking your time to find someone you will feel comfortable working with is very important. My goal is not only to help clients through their trauma in the most comfortable way possible but to give them tools that they can take with them to continue building the life that they deserve with confidence and self belief.

Hypnosis, NLP and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) are valuable resources I use on a daily basis with my clients to help them achieve their goals and become the person that they want to be. I also incorporate simple but empowering strategies that I have developed over the years that give my clients the ability to adjust their feelings and experiences in the moment wherever they are and whatever they are doing. This is an amazingly empowering experience and can help anyone gain inner confidence and self belief.

If you would like to free yourself from the tyranny of past or present bullying do call me 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to let you know how I can help.

What you can do to overcome procrastination and “writer’s block”

Recently, comic star and actor Jennifer Saunders has been using hypnotherapy to help overcome procrastination and gain productivity. She has been writing a script for an upcoming big screen version of the comedy “Absolutely Fabulous” in which she co-starred with Joanna Lumley and has been experiencing some kind of “writers block”.

Procrastination and meeting deadlines are issues that many of us experience and I often get asked to help people with this. Hypnosis can be a very powerful and rapid way to help generate focus and concentration as well as release any negative programmes that may be holding us back.

Working recently with an artist who had a really strong desire to organise workshops and spend more time developing the talent that she obviously had it was interesting to find that she also had various unconscious blocks that were preventing her from moving forward with her projects. When this happens we are struggling with an internal conflict. However the problem is that we often don’t know what the conflict is about and can easily blame ourselves for being lazy and unmotivated. This thinking can then set up a spiral of negativity which will eat into our self esteem and take us even further away from achieving our goals.

However when we have the tools to release the hold that this negative programme has over us this can make all the difference to our confidence, self belief and help generate the creativity needed to express ourselves in our chosen area. This may be writing, art, music, computer programming or even having to get on with cleaning the house or running a business.

“Beating yourself up” over this is obviously a poor option and will only make you feel more dispirited. Once we learn how to develop confidence, creativity and self belief alongside practical steps that will help us get on with things then it becomes possible to generate a really productive mind set.

My client has now already presented successful workshops and has another two scheduled in the next few weeks, plus she is enjoying her talent and becoming even more creative. So if you need help with this issue find a good professional hypnotherapist who can help you and the rewards may well be even greater than you might imagine.

If you have any confidence or procrastination issues and would like to use hypnosis to help generate more of your true potential just call me on 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to discuss how I can help you.

Prescription Drug Addiction and how hypnosis can help

Drug abuse is something that is never far away from the news but prescription drug addiction is an issue that is not so often discussed.

Abuse of prescribed drugs can take the form of taking pills prescribed for someone else, overuse of painkillers or tranquillisers, asking for repeat prescriptions before the last one has run out, a feeling of dependency on the drug and many other variations. Even over the counter drugs can be addictive and can have very serious side effects if taken out-with the recommended dosage.

The problem is learning how to come off prescription medication (which always should be done under medical supervision) and finding out why there appears to be a need to take this medication inappropriately.

I have successfully worked with clients in this area for many years and similarly when treating smoking, food issues and substance abuse, hypnotherapy has a very powerful and effective track record in helping people with all sorts of addictions. I use a combination of Hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and NLP plus simple but effective techniques that my clients can take with them and use to continue at home thus continuing the work done in the therapy room. This helps regain that feeling of control that is much needed for addiction issues and speed up the process of recovery. Even pain can be alleviated with

hypnosis which may help reduce medication when medically appropriate.

If you or anyone you know has a problem getting off prescription (or over the counter) medication it is important to get help from your GP and also look for good professional therapeutic help to remove the cravings and deal with any issues that may have led up to the addiction.

For more information call 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to help and answer any questions you may have.

Four ways you can supercharge your brain and get the best results in your exams.

Whether at school, at University or studying in your own time, exams are usually one thing you can’t avoid if you are looking to gain a qualification or upgrade your job.
There are lots of techniques and plenty of advice available to help you get the best results and below are a few example ideas that could help you.

Mind maps. The brain does not work in a linear fashion so the concept of mind maps helps us learn in a pattern more familiar to our actual thinking process.

Talk through your work with family or friends. Let them ask questions. Discuss your subject as if you were teaching the information. Getting it right is not the name of the game here. You are collecting information on your strengths and weaknesses and this will help you fine tune your study time and focus on any areas you need to work on.

Use past papers whenever appropriate to help you become familiar with the type of questions you will get and how they will be presented.

For interviews set up a rehearsal interview with someone who may be familiar with interview techniques. There is plenty of information on the internet covering the type of questions often asked.

However there are other important ways to programme the mind that will help achieve the best results. Working and developing the four areas below could really help you expand your memory, creativity and thinking in a major way.

1/ Gain Confidence.. Do you feel confident in yourself and your knowledge? This is worth anyone’s time to work on. If we do not feel confident all the knowledge in the world is not going to help us operate to our full potential.

2/ Improve your Memory. If we think our memory is poor then it will most likely stay that way. But if our memory is not as good as we would like it to be what can we do about it? I offer very powerful techniques that can help significantly boost memory.

3/ Develop your creative mind. If you can energise your creative mind in the right way then you have opened up another area that will give you access to even more knowledge and understanding. EFT and Hypnosis are both powerful ways to help get your brain into an optimal learning state.

4/ Learn to recognise different mind states. The state of Flow for instance is a state most of us will have experienced at some time or other but do we know when it is happening and how can we “turn it on” at the crucial times we need it? When we can recognise this state, then with the right tools we can begin to tap into it more and more when needed. To develop a hypnotic or trance state does not necessarily require us to close our eyes. Trance is a natural experience that gives us access to many different shades of experience. The trick is being able to choose the appropriate state for whatever we are doing.

The above are vital skills that when developed are of optimal value in helping boost the work you do to achieve the results you deserve. Having trained originally as a professional musician I have from my own experience as a performer developed an intense interest in methods that help develop the brain and our thinking processes.

“Hi Roger I just wanted to say that I successfully passed the exam.” K

Over the years I have developed a unique set of tools that I have aligned with my training in Hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming). I have also spent many years teaching students on a one to one basis privately, in schools and at establishments such as Napier University (at the time Napier College), The Royal Conservatoire of Music, and taking group courses for students of all ages. This is the knowledge and experience that gives my clients the opportunity to make empowering changes in their lives and future. I have helped taxi drivers pass “the knowledge”, University students achieve fantastic results in their exams and business people get the promotion or job they wanted and I can help you achieve the results you are looking for.

“Meant to tell you that (after your workshop) the students at Strathclyde (University music department) were trying out your techniques and were all enthusing about them” Andrea Kuypers. Tutor at Strathclyde and Napier Universities.

If there is any aspect of your studying that you would like to develop just email or call me and I will be happy to discuss how these techniques could help you achieve the very best results for your future.

Hypnosis and EFT can help deal with these nine traumatising feelings after abuse

Listening the other day to a woman talking about her experience of abuse when she was eleven years old, as she described how the events of the past still affected her everyday life she encapsulated in her phrases the many traumatising feelings that victims can carry with them for the rest of their lives.

“Frozen in shock” sums up how the body stores past trauma and until this can be unlocked there will always be a state of “Fight or Flight” operating throughout the nervous system.

“Carrying the secret” is a cross that victims of abuse may have to bear for the rest of their lives unless they can “lock it away in amental compartment” to help them continue their lives with some form of internal safety. Otherwise it can be almost too much to bear.

“Fear of not being believed” when they were children alienates and “isolates” them from family and friends often along with “rejection from other family members.”

“Lack of Trust” becomes even more pervasive when the perpetrator was a family member.

“Depression” can then become a common illness with anyone who has been in this situation.

I have successfully worked with many clients who have been victims of abuse. Using hypnotherapy, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and NLP with knowledge and understanding can help achieve enormously important change.

I always work in a way that is symapathetic and mindful of my clients’ feelings and also in ways that can achieve the best results with the absolute minimum of distress. In fact it is often not even necessary to discuss or reveal any difficult detail at all to help clear past experiences. Having to go through the distressing details is probably one of the major worries that keeps many people from seeking help through therapy but for a skilled practitioner it is not necessary to do so to achieve powerful results. In my experience the old techniques of talking through the trauma in detail and almost reliving it are out of place and uneccesary.

If you or anyone you know is struggling with these issues I will be very happy to diiscuss how I help my clients achieve remarkable changes in their lives. Just email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk or call 07970218451 for a confidential chat.

I find it fascinating that although my clients book in for so many different issues, in many cases it often does not take long to discover that a large part of the problem comes down to confidence. Some people are very confident at work but not so out in the everyday world and others confident in social situations but not so at work. It may be authority figures, people who talk loudly or just everyone in general who seems to know more, have more to say, be better at things or just seem to have more confidence than we do.

Unlock your confidence

Since we are all in situations every single day where we are communicating with other people, whether at work, socially or just in passing it can feel as if there is no let up to this problem. All these situations just seem to exacerbate those uncomfortable feelings and the emotional and social discomfort it breeds.

The big question is where does the problem come from and how can we fix the issue? Many issues are born in childhood and when we are young it can take only a word or a look for us to read into even a light hearted comment some slight that can still be stuck in our unconscious decades later. This is why it is so important to clear those old messages before we build our new programme of confidence in ourselves. It may seem like a huge task but I have found that with the right techniques one can help clear even those issues we don’t consciously know about in less than one session. Once that is clear then the way is open to move forward and build a new foundation of self belief and confidence. To help make these changes I use a mix of hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique), NLP and importantly some simple but very powerful techniques to help my clients make real changes to how they feel right there and then in any situation as it is happening.

Why is this is an area in which I am passionate about about helping people with? Two BIG reasons for me are a) I have experienced it myself and b) I have spent years researching and developing a series of strategies and techniques that will help my clients literally power up their own self belief and confidence in any situation.

Lack of confidence can be with us for years but with the best help and techniques you could, in just a matter of weeks if not days be gaining confidence in ways you previously never imagined. In fact one of my techniques will show you how you can literally “step into” the confident person you know you deserve to be. So if you feel it really is time to step into and be the person you know is really you, confidently and comfortably do give me a call (07970218451) or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to discuss how I can help you.

Alcohol Abuse

What does the term alcohol abuse really mean? We all know the word alcoholic and we know that certain people drink too much but where does the term alcohol abuse fit in? If someone is suffering from alcohol abuse it means that they may not yet be physically dependant on alcohol but the alcohol is already beginning to have a negative impact on their lives. This negative impact can take the form of relationship and family problems related to drinking, issues at work, driving while under the influence and irresponsible behaviour patterns.

Left to follow it’s own path alcohol abuse can become a slippery path towards some very unpleasant experiences. Some may be able to sustain an outside appearance that everything is normal but this will be at great expense to family, relationships, job prospects and self worth.

However thinking about stopping is one thing and taking action is another. This is where it is very important to find a group and/or therapist to help give support advice and counselling in these situations. Some people get good results from meetings such as AA (Alcoholics Anonymous) and for others therapy in some form will help them find the strength to get out of this destructive cycle.

A couple of books I can recommend are Rational Recovery by Jack Trimpey and Addictive Thinking by Abraham J. Twerski. However a book cannot replace qualified help and support and the longer this issue is left to develop the greater the danger that personal, physical, financial and emotional damage will occur. Although we often hear the terms genetic and disease used with regards to alcohol issues at the end of the day taking responsibility for our own health and behaviour is the only thing that counts.

The techniques I offer my clients are designed to help take control of one’s life and thinking and develop the self esteem and confidence that everyone deserves to experience on an everyday basis. Hypnotherapy, NLP and EFT ( Emotional Freedom Technique) are powerful and empowering tools that have given so many of my clients the opportunity to get their lives back on track If you feel it is time for you to make a real change in your life call me on 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk and I will be happy to discuss any aspect of this with you.

Using EFT to help with depression

EFT helps depression

EFT or Emotional Freedom Technique is an Energy Psychology technique that has it’s roots in Chinese medicine and acupuncture. In this technique the client will tap with their fingers on acupressure points at the same time as verbalising their issues.

Emotional Freedom Technique is a technique that anyone can use at home to help alleviate a wide range of emotional problems but when working on more serious issues such as depression it is wise to work with an expert and qualified practitioner.

Helping clients with depression is not a simple exercise in the therapy room but when one has a technique such as EFT available it is amazing how quickly it can release negative feelings and past traumas that could normally take months if not years to even partially resolve. This for me is why EFT is such a valuable tool to be able to use when helping clients suffering from depression. So often it is not necessary to go digging through traumatising experiences from the past and if there things that do need addressing then it is often the case that clearing one past experience will free the client from many of the remaining discomforts around their past with so much less intrusive and upsetting work that may be needed when using other therapies.

If you are not familiar with EFT the idea of tapping around various meridian points on the face can seem a little strange at first so I will often just “drop” it into the session and ask my client to instantly just tap on the points that I show them. In most cases they are surprised at the sudden relaxation they experience and when this happens the client will immediately know that something important is happening.

Another important factor with EFT is that it is a technique the client can take home with them and use whenever they feel confronted by any difficult feelings thereby giving them some control over their daily experiences.

If you have emotional issues such as depression which have resisted any previous attempts to free yourself from, then EFT is a very powerful technique that could help you get your life back on track.

As a hypnotherapist and EFT practitioner I specialise in helping people with issues that seem not to respond to other treatments. My many previous clients know that it is possible to make remarkable changes and I see EFT as one of the keys to helping achieve those changes.

For more information call or email me and I will be happy to help you. It could make all the difference.

12 year old stranded in Abu Dhabi until hypnosis helps him fly home

Some news in the media today (08/10/13) is about Jason a 12 year old who had suddenly experienced a panic attack on a plane before take off and could not continue with his flight. This led to a full blown flying phobia that had prevented him from returning with his family to the UK for fifteen months.

Interestingly, since he was a baby Jason had taken many flights but this event came out of the blue and was so overwhelming that boarding a plane was completely out of the question. The fear of flying had become so en grained that even though his mother had not seen him for months and he had tried four times to return home he had found it impossible.

However as a last resort his father decided hypnosis would be worth a try and called on hypnotherapist Russell Hemmings to help. Very soon he was happily on the way home and reunited with his mother, family and pet dog in Weston-Super-Mare.

Fear of flying prevents thousands and thousands of people from enjoying the holidays they have always dream t of, from taking jobs they would love and spending precious time with family and friends. One of my clients a few years ago was a boy of Jason’s age who could not fly down to the West Country to see his father but like Jason within one session he was on the plane and is now a seasoned traveler up and down the country. Another recent client, a busy professional actor was dreading a tour to Australia but after just two sessions she had a wonderful three months in Sydney and since then regularly and happily travels abroad and up and down the country by plane.

If you suffer from a flying phobia and it is preventing you from enjoying your holidays, doing your job or seeing the world, hypnotherapy is the simplest way that I know of to help you get back on that plane. Plus, as the majority of my clients do, you will even enjoy the flight as well. If you would like to know more call or email me and I will be happy to help.

Hypnotherapy can help you pass your driving test

Taking a driving test can be quite daunting especially when it may have been many years since taking any kind of exam or test. The modern driving test is rigorously marked (but not as tough yet as for instance in Germany) and over 50% of entrants will have more than one attempt before they get a pass.

Of course a good instructor is most important. Obviously the instructor must be good at their job but you must also feel comfortable with them and feel you are learning better skills each time you go for your lesson. If you don’t feel confident with your instructor then it may be wise to try another. Part of the job of any tutor, teacher or instructor is to help the student feel at ease so they can learn in the best environment. However, even with a good instructor inner confidence and belief may not come so easily when learning to drive on our busy and fast paced roads. And this is when people may need some extra help especially when the driving test is coming up.

Hypnosis is a wonderful way of finding a balance of confidence, focus and relaxation and is an ideal technique to help anyone who has any fear of driving or is about to take a driving test. We may be feeling confident with our instructor but when it comes to the test the mind can easily go off uncontrollably at a tangent just at those precise moments when we need focus and complete attention.

So in what ways can hypnosis help you? Recently I was working with a young man in the motor trade who had a very nice BMW which he loved but he was becoming increasingly nervous each time he had to drive it anywhere. One of the amazing things about hypnosis is that we can imagine pretty much whatever we want and feel almost as if it is happening in the therapy room. On this occasion he closed his eyes, I put him into a pleasantly relaxed state (a light trance) and took him for a wonderful drive all across the UK in the space of twenty minutes! Now of course he didn’t put any extra miles on his car but by the time he “arrived back” he had, in his mind, travelled so far in this relaxed and focused and attentive state that he was really quite excited about getting back into his car and actually driving it immediately to Edinburgh! The next time I saw him he was really enjoying driving his BMW at every opportunity he could get.

So if you have a driving test coming up and would like to feel more in control and confident and able to use all the skills that you have learnt with a focused and alert mind then just call me or email and we can discuss how I can help you achieve that valuable state of mind. Many of my clients have taken the driving test previously on numerous occasions without success but just one or two hypnotherapy sessions later they have come away with the pass they had been looking for. And so could you.

Skype being used to provide therapy

Using Skype for therapy has been around for quite a while although not everybody is familiar with the concept. With a video link it is a great way to communicate and work with clients. I have done many therapy telephone sessions in the past but with clients enquiring about my work from as far afield as the USA, Australia, India and Cyprus it is proving to be a wonderful way to work with clients who would otherwise be unable to see me on a one to one basis.

Other reasons that Skype can be an invaluable way to communicate with clients is for people who have physical or emotional reasons that mean they are unable to leave the house. In these cases I can work with agrophobia issues, chronic anxiety and many other problems even when a client, who may be local or in another part of the country cannot come directly to my office.

NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) and EFT (EmotionalFreedom Technique) lend themselves very well to this medium and since we are in a light trance regularly during the day I often use an “eyes open state” of hypnosis even when working in my office on a one to one basis. This works very well with Skype and the client is in always control and fully consciously aware throughout the session.

So if you are local or thousands of miles away and are interested in learning more about how a Skype session could help you make significant changes in your life you do contact me and do look at my website. All you need is a computer with a webcam, a decent broadband connection and a Skype account which is very easy to set up. The rest is just the same as answering your telephone but through your computer.

Got the Yips? Clench your left fist!

An article appeared in The Daily Telegraph today (yips tip) (10/07/13) with a tip that could help competitors in various sports “beat the yips”.

I work on a regular basis with both amateur and professional golfers and musicians and other sports people who suffer from the yips in various forms. Almost any sport or activity that relies on fine motor control can be a target for this issue whereby certain muscles refuse to cooperate thus sabotaging the intended movement. Darts players can find their fingers refusing to let go of the dart, a golfers putter hand can be hijacked by an uncontrolled movement at a crucial putt, musicians fingers can suddenly decide not to cooperate and as I noticed at Wimbledon the tennis player’s hand and arm tossing the ball up into the air can seem to go wildly out of control. At Wimbledon and on the golf tour these are all players at the top of their game with every facility available to them to hone their techniques to the finest degree. But the yips can strike right out of the blue seemingly from nowhere.

Now some of these issues can be put down to nerves and to a degree that can be part of the problem. Lack of confidence can easily lead to the body going into fight and flight mode, taking all finely tuned and organised movements out of the part of the brain that has set the sequence into the unconscious and throwing it back into the conscious mind putting us back into what feels like “beginner” mode.

In my opinion when working on this issue an important and vital part of the process back to muscular control has to be a real cleanup of the unconscious baggage that we carry around. Just imagine your brain attempting to carry out a finely tuned muscular sequence. To be able to repeat this sequence correctly we must practise the movement until it has become to all intents and purposes automatic. Now imagine giving that command to the command centre in your brain but suddenly a contradictory command appearing simultaneously! Total disaster ensues with no conscious understanding of why the movement was hijacked. Of course our unconscious knows why and also knows what this old programme is all about but it is a programme we won’t be able to think our way out of. Like a computer with a virus, until that virus has been removed the system will never return to it’s previous smooth operational state.

EFT is a technique that has in my experience and according to a study at Sheffield Hallam University a good track record in helping amateur and professional golfers overcome the yips. When working with my clients on the yips I use EFT, Hypnosis and NLP plus various mental programming techniques that I have designed to help reprogramme the internal emotional thinking and the external physical movements. So that is where the idea of clenching the left hand to activate the right side of the brain, as the article in The Daily Telegraph suggests, makes a lot of sense because the negative messages have found their way into a space in our minds that we don’t want them to be in. By doing this we are making a positive change in our mental programming system.

Below is a review from one of my clients and I know it worked because I went out and played golf with him after just three sessions. I could see no sign of a yip and he beat me!

“I had suffered from the yips for over twenty years … I tried all possible strange grips and combinations … today I am free of the yips and shot a 72 on my par 69 course…”

Roger Foxwell is a qualified Hypnotherapist, EFT and NLP practitioner. If you would like to contact him for more information just call 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk or visit.www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

It has been accapted for a while now through research by best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell that to achieve mastery in a subject or discipline 10,000 hours of study or practise is the magic number that will help bring the requisite rewards. However a recent study as outlined in Time has come up with new research that doubts whether this is the whole picture. Of course even if we take the 10,000 hours as read then there are obviously factors such as physical and practical suitability and genetics that would be taken onto account.

However further research by Zach Hambrick and colleagues at Michigan State University have found that the10,000 hour rule really only applied to between 30% and 34% of musicians and chess masters that they studied. In fact they found that two thirds of the difference was unrelated to practice with massive differences in the time it would take one person to reach an elevated level in their field as against another in the same area of expertise.

So, as most professional musicians, golfers or anyone developing high level skills will know the whole issue is extremely complex as the researchers testified.

As someone who has trained to a high professional level in music (violin) with copious amounts of practise I have always taken a great interest in what is the difference that makes the difference in successfully achieving goals? Since I work helping professional golfers, sports persons and musicians get closer to discovering their own personal formula that will help bring out their best potential it is fascinating to actually be using my insider knowledge to help develop my own skill sets and pass that information on to my clients.

Some of the key strategies include:

• An intense desire to achieve a successful outcome
• A discipline ethic that will carry one through even when things are tough
• An ability to convert that work ethic into a pleasure so that it no longer becomes work but something you just can’t stop doing
• A linking of the creative mind with the analytical that produces a synthesis of artistic and technical skills.

Now there is much more to this but knowing how to take our skills to the next creative level is a skill in itself. However once we can tap into this whole process it can hugely accelerate our progress and maybe we won’t need 10,00 hours after all? Or maybe we will use much more than 10,000 hours because nobody can stop us since we enjoy developing our skill so much.

If you are ready to move to the next level I can help you. Using Hypnosis, EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) and NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) plus a fascinating range of techniques that my own knowledge in this area has helped me develop you really could find yourself in another level of expertise and pleasure in your chosen skillset.

For more informaaion just call me on 07970218451 or email roger@rogerfoxwell.co.uk or visit www.rogerfoxwell.co.uk

Public Speaking with confidence

In my hypnotherapy sessions I work with a lot of business people who are having difficulties with public speaking and giving presentations. Hypnosis and EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) are ideal vehicles to

help make powerful and lasting change very effectively and rapidly. However when dealing with these issues an important part of a session will almost always include some simple voice projection exercises. In my opinion these are vital to giving a confident and well projected speech. We may have all the confidence in the world but if no one understands or hears clearly what we are saying then our message will not get across. Now I am not a voice coach and voice coaching could well be something worth following up but I do offer in my sessions as a bonus some very simple voice exercises that will really help get your message across in any situation. I originally began looking for some simple but effective voice development techniques at a time when I felt my voice could be more assertive in certain situations. It is one thing having the ability to produce a smooth and soothing hypnotic voice but trying to order a drink in a crowded bar or give a presentation to a hundred people is another!

To give you a taste of some of these simple exercises try pointing to your nose and saying “this is my nose.” Then do the same thing with your lips, your throat and your chest. Interestingly you will probably notice a change in voice tone that bears a resemblance to where you are pointing especially when you point at your nose. As you become more aware of this you can begin to develop the resonance and timbre in your voice that is required to command attention when it is needed. I soon noticed once I started practising these techniques was that as my own voice developed in resonance and the actual feedback I was getting inside my head from my voice helped add to my speaking and personal confidence.

How rapidly we speak and how much variation in tone and pitch are also important for best results. Remember you know what you are saying but people listening will need extra time to process it. Speaking just a little slower will help this and also give you more time to organise your thoughts. Every positive change you make will add to your confidence whilst diminishing the anxiety and this will help you achieve the results you are looking for. Like a lot of things in life once we know where to start and which techniques to use it really is possible to make positive and lasting changes very quickly. Yes, you really could be getting your message across clearly and confidently in just a few weeks.

If you would like to develop your confidence, your presentation and public speaking skills with the help of hypnosis and the power of your own mind please call me on 07970218451 or you can email to either book an appointment or to find out more.

How often do you find yourself saying “I haven’t got time”? We all do it don’t we. Life and Success Coach Bob Proctor says “Everybody gets exactly the same amount of time and that’s all there is.” Time won’t change but we can “make time.” If we wait for another year we won’t have a minute more or a minute less.

If you would like to know how my unique and empowering hypnotherapy and EFT techniques can help you reorganise your life and personal confidence just call me on 07970218451 or email and I will be very happy to chat through whatever issues you would like to work on.

One of my posts deals with Flying Phobia so it is always nice to get a text back from a recent client when they arrive home from their holiday and no phobia. A recent client wanted to go to Spain with her friends but was absolutely terrified of flying and had already backed out of a previous holiday for that reason.

We had one initial session a few weeks before she was due to fly and she immediately found that she really was not worrying about it anymore at all. However as the date got closer she began to experience some of the old feelings so thought she had better come and see me for a back up session.

It is interesting working with something such as flying since the conscious mind is often not quite sure whether any change has occurred. Until you experience stepping onto the plane you don’t know consciously if the therapy has worked. Although our conscious mind knows that our fear is irrational and unfounded it is interesting that when our unconscious allows us to let go of the fear the conscious often still needs proof and is still not always totally convinced. This is where we need to trust this creative part of ourselves and avoid too many internal questions as the positive change becomes a natural experience.

Hypnosis allows us to bypass our conscious questioning and that is exactly what we did in the session just a couple of days before her holiday. It also allows us to visualise a sequence of events in such a way that they become, in a sense, real. Visualising the flight and other important details whilst connecting it to feelings of relaxation and calm can, according to research, be as powerfully compelling as experiencing the real thing.

Oh yes, and here is the text she sent me when she got home:

“Hi Roger just bk my hol was absolutely fab i was gr8 on plane was a bit nervous at 1st then completely went away quite enjoyed it defo do it again i even fell asleep on the way back … thanks very much”

The initial “bit nervous at 1st” is an example of the conscious mind still not quite believing that it really can feel safe. However when the unconscious has been reprogrammed powerfully enough the conscious mind is then able to take a back seat and just relax. Somewhere within us we really do know how to make these changes and by allowing that part to do what it needs to do and change what it needs to change the new feelings will naturally become fully integrated into our actual live experience.